Appeal by woman who missed 30 sittings dismissed as 'frivolous'

A woman who filed a "frivolous" appeal over a jail term has been fined €233 by the Chief Justice for doing so.

The 30-year-old heroin trafficker, Clare Borg, first faced drug charges in March 2000. She was sentenced to eight years later but the case had dragged on because she failed to turn up no less than 30 times, Chief Justice Vincent De Gaetano pointed out yesterday.

She was jailed for six months and fined €466 on December 15 last year for dealing in heroin worth some €50. She filed an appeal on the following Boxing Day.

Ms Borg, who has 19 previous prostitution-related convictions, had been charged under citation and not under arrest and often chose not to turn up for sittings.

Chief Justice De Gaetano said it unfortunately appeared that, when people were charged under citation or were granted bail, the magistrate's court was faced with problems in notifying the accused or the accused did not turn up.

"This leads to excessive delays in a lot of cases that are begun under citation, often because people facing charges sometimes turn up and sometimes do not."

Well after the prosecution closed its case on December 9, 2003, Ms Borg would fail to turn up and, when she did, her lawyer would sometimes be missing.

Chief Justice De Gaetano said he was surprised to see her complain that she had not been given a fair trial and threw out her appeal.

She also complained that the court expert brought in to examine the drugs was not re-confirmed as the court expert, and that she was wrongfully found guilty of the facts and that she was jailed for.

But the court dismissed all her complaints and described them as unfounded.

"In the light of her past, it would not be justified to exercise the court's discretion in favour of anything but a prison term" the Chief Justice said.

He then confirmed the previous judgment and fined her €233 for filing a frivolous appeal.